The Will of the Flame
by Aeo15
Summary: The world had been broken, with but a single precise strike at it's head. Konohagakure was destroyed overnight, and the rest of the world began crumbling with it. Without the mighty Elemental Countries, the remaining population fights for survival. Who will win that fight? ..


**The Will of the Flame**

**Author's Note**: Well, here I am again. This is, essentially, my last story. Only, revamped and much more organized. The first attempt was just me writing whatever came to mind, and had no real structure. Hopefully this will turn out better for you readers, and me as an author. We'll find out soon enough now though, won't we? ..

**Pairings**: Maybe, at a much later time in the story. I love pairings, I really do .. but I'm just not too sure of my ability to write them. No suggestions, I'm afraid. If there's gonna be a pairing, it'll be one I choose myself.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

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**Prologue:** **A Brief History of the Lost World.**

_Many have pondered where the world began, and the answer has forever been out of reach. It always will be. There are some things that men just aren't supposed to know. It's something to be accepted, as it will not change; no matter how much some want it to. _

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" A deep, happy voice cut into the otherwise quiet area.

_One thing men do know about the world, though .. is how it fell to pieces, seemingly overnight. They should, at least. One of their own was the reason behind it._

"Yeah, about as nice as they get around these parts." A deeper, less joyful voice toned.

_Humanity had always been a destructive force. Always. However, when they unlocked a hidden power within themselves, they could do nearly anything they wanted. The first of the humans to achieve this power was truly the greatest. Able to match the most powerful being on the planet. A creature known as the Juubi. A ten tailed monster, able to level mountains with ease. This man, the so called Sage of the Six Paths, fought the monster for days on end, and was finally able to seal the monster within his own body. _

"You're always so downtrodden, man. Chin up." The sound of someone being smacked in the arm chimed.

_After defeating the monster, the sage spread his religious beliefs. The way of the shinobi. People everywhere began learning from him, and then spread the religion themselves. This so dubbed Shinobi Sect, became a huge part of the world. The sage's own sons took it a level further, and eventually created entire clans of these religious warriors. The two sons were very different people, despite their identical origins. _

"He's right, y'know? You're always down in the dumps." A third, higher pitched, voice chirped.

_The sage's greatest wish was true peace for the world. And so he took the beast he had sealed within himself, and split it into nine. These nine segments were spread across the continent, to be a peace token to lands everywhere. However, even then the goal wasn't achievable in his lifetime, so he trusted his dream to the two sons. The older, who inherited his 'eyes', his powerful chakra and spiritual energy. And then the younger, who inherited his 'body', his powerful will and physical energy._

"Oh, sorry, let me fix that. Mood? You hear me? Improve." The holder of the 'sad' voice muttered.

"Thank you, sergeant sarcasm." Another smack.

_The two were as different as night and day, one believing that power was the key to peace, the other that love was the answer. The sage chose the younger, who believed in love, to be his successor. The envious older brother attacked the younger brother, and after their fight, the two parted ways, creating their own families who later became the Uchiha and the Senju. Two very powerful clans._

"Anytime, general jackass." And a third smack, this one for retribution.

_The beginnings of the clans were a bloody part of history. Clans everywhere began forming and fought one another in wars all over the continent. These Clan Wars went on for centuries, well past the time of the Six Sages, or even the two brothers. Hundreds of years lost to war._

"You two, I swear …," The third voice sighed forlornly.

"Oh, you know you love us." One could practically hear the grin on the first's face.

"Once I figure out why, I'll let you know." A feminine laugh chimes off.

"... Ouch." The sad voice mumbles.

_Nearly all of this history is now widely believed to be a mere myth. Only the last hundred or so years is recorded. Right around the time that the Clan Wars ended, beginning the Elemental Era. The Elemental Era, or the beginning of the Elemental Countries, marked a peace treaty of sorts between many warring clans. The Uchiha and the Senju were the first to band together._

"Do either of you two remember when we met?" The third voice grew quiet after asking.

"Of course! It was when-" The first speaker had a light tone in their voice.

"When everyone began banding together again." The second voice spoke very precisely.

"Yeah, that." The first agreed.

_Clans everywhere followed in their lead and formed entire villages of shinobi. The five most powerful, Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure and Kumogakure, were of equal power to the very Daimyos of the countries they were in. The Kages, or leaders, of these villages were held in equal standing to these country rulers. And for good reason. There were titans among the rest of the shinobi. _

"Fun times, huh?" The deepest voice spoke.

"Very!" The first speaker laughed out.

"I agree, those first few months together were a lot of fun." The third voice spoke fondly.

_Konohagakure especially stood out from the rest. It's first Kage, the Shodaime Hokage, was an unstoppable force. Hashirama Senju. His very name put fear into many a foreign shinobi. He bent nature to his whim, and built the greatest village from the ground up, quite literally. Along with the help of the Uchiha clan, particularly Madara Uchiha, he recruited many other shinobi clans to build a military force. Soon enough, the settlement prospered enough for a civilian population to sprout. After a decade of prosperity, the leader of the Uchiha clan became jealous of the leader of both the Senju and the entirety of the village._

"And here we are now." The second speaker said duly.

_And so, Madara Uchiha challenged Hashirama Senju to a battle. The Senju was quite the force to be reckoned with, and after a very long, tiring battle he defeated the Uchiha, who fled in the face of defeat, not to be seen for the rest of his natural life. _

"We're quite a ways from when we were kids." The first speaker said, for the first time calmly.

_At some point after this event, Hashirama passed on, subsequently leaving the title of Hokage to his younger brother, Tobirama. Under his rule, Konoha prospered even more, and chartered a new school for shinobi, which other villages soon mimicked. However, a world war soon erupted in which the second Hokage died. He left his title to Hiruzen Sarutobi. _

"Yes, we are. We've long since been adults, fearless leader." The second voice said.

_Sarutobi lead his village into greatness, surviving not only the first world war, but triumphing in the following two, with the help of powerful shinobi like Minato Namikaze, Sakumo Hatake, and his own three students, the Sannin. He enjoyed an era of peace, and for the first time, a Hokage was named without the death of the predecessor. Minato Namikaze became the Yondaime. _

"Well, where would I be without a sidekick like you, pal?" The first said gruffly, falling back into his playful, teasing role.

"I am the leader of the Hero Guard. 'Sidekick' is insulting." The second bit back.

"And I am the actual Hero, sidekick." The first laughed sharply.

The third sat silently, watching to two best friends bicker back and forth, before speaking. "Hey, if I recall there were a handful of times neither of you would've survived without my help!"

"Oh, _one _time!" The other two shouted simultaneously, before glaring at one another, "And it was _his_ fault!" Again, they chorused.

The third just sighed.

_Konoha enjoyed the rule of their fourth Hokage peacefully. Things had never been better for them. Then an awful night came, and just like that, it was all gone. Completely and utterly obliterated, all in one night. When the ninth segment of the Juubi, the Kyuubi, broke free from it's own cage within Kushina Uzumaki, during an assault on the village by one masked man. This masked man had ruined the means to reseal the Kyuubi into Kushina. And so, Minato Namikaze sealed the Kyuubi into his and Kushina's newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. At the cost of their lives, they sealed the main threat, and teleported the newborn elsewhere. However, because of the loss of these two impossibly great warriors, the entire village fell over night. And along with it, the rest of the world. The masked man was never seen again. _

"One time my ass, you're both just too stubborn to admit that I helped more than you care to admit." The third huffed.

"Oh, we know. Just, especially that day." The first said seriously.

"Mhm." The second agreed with a low murmur.

"Yeah … well, I suppose. At any rate, I'm sure they'll be expecting us back soon enough." The third said again, dismissing the subject at hand.

"Oh, don't remind me .. Fortunately, you two get to suffer with me. Lets get on with it, shall we, Sakura, Sasuke?" The apparent leader said.

"You got it, Hero." The man, Sasuke, spoke. Sakura hummed in the affirmative.

"That's Mr. Hero Naruto Uzumaki to you, sidekick." Naruto chuckled out.

Sasuke merely scoffed and began walking away.

"Oh, Naruto," Sakura sighed, following after Sasuke.

Naruto just followed his two long time friends with a smile planted on his face.

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**Author's Note**: Well, there it is. A good enough introduction for me. Let me know what you all think, please. Also, a special shout out to a good fanfic friend of mine, one Alban55. He has helped me quite a bit in developing my writing ability. Thanks a lot, man. I really have appreciated your time.

**Edit: **Alright, thanks to a couple early reviewers sent my way by Alban, I caught and fixed a handful of mistakes. Thanks to Sendicard, and Ppsh for the help, and of course, Alban for sending these two my way.


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